Plum residents, environmentalists and other officials speak out against injection well conversion proposal

Concerns about air quality, water contamination, environmental pollution and truck traffic were recurring themes as people spoke Tuesday against a Delmont company operating a natural gas well in Plum.

Penneco Environmental Solutions wants to convert an existing conventional, shallow natural gas well at its Sedat facility, 1815 Old Leechburg Road, into a wastewater injection well.

The well, known as Sedat 4A, was drilled in the second quarter of 2004. If approved by federal and state regulators, it would be the second injection well at the site.

The existing injection well, Sedat 3A, has been in use for more than a year. It, too, previously was a conventional, shallow natural gas well, completed in February 1989.

Members of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region III Source Water & Underground Injection Control had a public hearing Tuesday at the Plum Community Center as part of its permit process.

Section Chief Jim Bennett said the hearing was to collect public input, and they would not respond to comments or questions.

About 20 speakers voiced their objections, including several residents, members of various environmental groups, Oakmont Mayor Sophia Facaros and Allegheny County Councilwoman Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis.

Plum Councilman Dave Vento started things off.

“The people that are here tonight are pretty much in agreement that they are not in favor of this well, and the borough, itself, is not in favor of the expansion of this same well site,” Vento said. “We didn’t expect it to be this way. We are going to do what we can to fight the permit and everything else that happens from this point on.”

Others noted issues such as failed tests at the site, company violations and water contamination from Sedat 3A as reasons to deny Penneco’s request.

“The first well became problematic after less than four months of operation, with a failed mechanical integrity test that required the insertion of an additional pipe to the injection zone just 1,875 feet beneath people’s houses,” resident Matt Kelso said. “This incident has already impacted multiple water supplies and the families that rely on this groundwater for their daily lives.”

Resident Katie Sheehan said she lives about 500 feet downhill from Sedat 3A, and her family’s water supply was impacted so much that they had to install a filtration system and use water buffalo tanks for fear of using well water.

She said several other residents joined her in filing complaints with the EPA, state Department of Environmental Protection and the Allegheny County Health Department about a chemical odor in the air and symptoms of headaches, nausea and skin burning and eye irritation because of pollution.

“We do not need any more health impacts, both mental and physical, from a second site,” Sheehan said.

Facaros said she is concerned about wastewater heading downhill toward her borough. Oakmont submitted a letter to the EPA on Aug. 17 urging federal officials to deny the permit because of concerns that the state DEP may be understaffed to adequately monitor the conditions of existing wells in the region.

EPA officials sat quietly with their hands folded and eyes focused on each speaker, a few of whom had not registered but felt the urge to say something.

Gillian Graber, executive director of the nonprofit Protect PT, called the proposed injection well a “direct threat” to the “health of residents living near the wells and Allegheny County’s drinking water.”

She also held a brief news conference outside the community center just before the public hearing. She and a couple of other speakers were accompanied by people carrying signs with messages such as “Clean Water Please,” “I Love Clean Air” and “Breathe Happy.”

Public input deadline extended

Bennett announced the public input deadline had been extended to Sept. 7 so people can submit further comments in writing through the EPA website, epa.gov/publicnotices.

A transcript of the hearing is expected to be made public in a few weeks.

“All these comments will be given serious attention as we prepare a final decision in this permit request,” Bennett said.

Opponent not hopeful

Sheehan said she was thankful for the chance for her and others to speak at the hearing, but she has little hope it made an impact.

“I’ve been at the first EPA hearing,” she said. “I’ve been at council meetings. I’ve been at zoning board meetings. I was at the EPA hearing that they had virtually over Zoom a couple weeks ago, and again I’m here tonight.

“I think it’s great that people turned out, but I feel like this is a battle that we cannot win. Every meeting that I’ve been to has turned into a formality. I hope the EPA has heard everything that we’ve said.

“They’re welcome to come have a glass from either my well or my parents’ spring.”

The EPA held a virtual hearing on Penneco’s proposal in June and issued a draft permit in July.

There is no deadline for the EPA to take further action, said EPA Region III permit specialist Kevin Bowsey.

Penneco sent its permit application to the EPA in May 2021.

If the EPA issues a permit for the well, Penneco then would have to seek approval from the DEP. The company also needs a waste transfer facility permit from the state.